Sunday

Roger Goodell: the new David Stern?

NBA commissioner David Stern, you'd know if you're a loyal reader of this blog, is not one of my favorites; my personal opinion is that his arrogance in dealing with issues facing the NBA has hurt the league and its fans.
Yet NFL commissioner Goodell is approaching Stern's level on the subject of player safety and all-out money grabs. Here's what Goodell told a crowd on Thursday about player safety and the league's efforts to combat injury risks:
“Changing the culture in a way that reduces the injury risk to the maximum possible extent — especially the risk of head injury. We want players to enjoy long and prosperous careers and healthy lives off the field. So we focus relentlessly on player health and safety, while also keeping the game fun and unpredictable.”
There is no doubt, of course, that the NFL of today is safer and more precautionary than that of even three or four years ago. But Goodell's moves to the contrary make his player safety comments ring hollow: His insistence on an expanded Thursday schedule — former players consistently have said how long it takes a body to recover from a Sunday game, and it's not three days, making them more vulnerable to injury on Thursdays — is the most egregious example.
But his proposed 18-game schedule is another, and his war against a few New Orleans Saints players who perhaps did something wrong but no one really knows for sure also falls in this category.
Meanwhile, I asked Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, when he visited Crain's a few weeks back, whether liability from all the concussion lawsuits that are currently working through the courts was a concern when he bought the team. He said, among other things, that “Roger Goodell is committed to player safety.”
A good corporate citizen!
Speaking of commissioners who need a wakeup call, Bud Selig, in an interview with reporters about this week's hullabaloo over the Miami Marlins' purge of high salaries from their roster, “also made an effort to defend the deal,” according to The New York Times. “He said he talked to two independent 'baseball people' who thought the Marlins did 'very well' with the prospects they received from the Blue Jays.”

Indians' draft struggles magnified

Baseball America's Ben Badler analyzes the Indians' struggles through their recent draft hauls:
While the front office remains largely intact, the markers of future success are pointing in the wrong direction. The team ranked 29th in the majors in runs allowed in 2012, thanks largely to a disaster of a rotation. … There's little immediate help on the way from the farm system, which ranked 29th in baseball last year and again is among the worst in the game. The Orioles and A's might provide hope, but the Indians' inability to identify and acquire talent—particularly among amateur talent and starting pitchers—means the organization could just as well be set up for several more years of losing.More baseball: Veteran St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote over the weekend, as free agency was kicking into gear, that big signings don't necessarily equal success. The Detroit Tigers, of course, went to the World Series after signing Prince Fielder. But the Los Angeles Angels, after signing Albert Pujols to a $240 million deal, missed the playoffs, and there are plenty more examples. (The Red Sox?)
From Miklasz:
In 2010, only five of the teams with the industry's 10 largest payrolls made it to the playoffs. Only three of the top-10 payroll teams reached the postseason in 2011, and only four of 10 qualified for the tournament in 2012. Add it all up, and that's 12 of 30.
And yes, I include this with the full knowledge that teams that do spend and are willing to lose money have an inherent advantage and much more wiggle room to make mistakes. But the point stands.
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